Eighteen Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) seniors from nine high schools have been awarded the National Merit $2,500 Scholarships financed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

The students are among 56 high school seniors in Maryland to be selected in the second group of winners in the 57th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. The scholars were selected from a pool of more than 15,000 students, and will receive a one-time award of $2,500 for post-secondary education.

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) was established in 1955 to honor scholastically talented youth and encourage academic excellence at all levels of education. The scholarships are privately funded by NMSC, and are underwritten by more than 400 corporate and college sponsors. Recipients are judged to have the strongest record of accomplishments and greatest potential for success in college.

Additional National Merit Scholarship winners will be announced later this year.